Portsmouth business investigated for illegal workers

PORTSMOUTH — Federal agents searched two city residences last week and seized evidence as part of an investigation into possible marriage fraud, money laundering, identity fraud, passport fraud, visa fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to court records.

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By Elizabeth Dinan

seacoastonline.com

By Elizabeth Dinan

Posted Feb. 6, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By Elizabeth Dinan

Posted Feb. 6, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

PORTSMOUTH — Federal agents searched two city residences last week and seized evidence as part of an investigation into possible marriage fraud, money laundering, identity fraud, passport fraud, visa fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to court records.

The investigation centers around a Portsmouth-based cleaning business that is alleged to have employed undocumented workers, one of whom allegedly paid a Portsmouth woman to marry him so he could get a green card, federal records state.

Brendan Quinlan, special agent for the Diplomatic Security Service, authored the affidavit for warrants to collect evidence at a Spring Street apartment as well as a State Street home, according to his affidavit. The searches were conducted Jan. 29, when agents seized laptop computers, phones, keys and business records, federal records show.

Now in federal custody is Marcos De Azevedo, owner of MDA Cleaning Group, which is registered with the state as based at 526 State St. and, according to federal court records, is at the center of the investigation.

Quinlan's affidavit states that De Azevedo first came to the attention of federal authorities in October 2010, when he admitted he illegally obtained a customs record that "fraudulently showed he was admitted to the United States." That document was used to get a Maine driver's license and, De Azevedo allegedly told authorities, he also used a friend's Washington state address to obtain a driver's license.

Three years later, De Azevedo is alleged to have married a woman in Portsmouth, in exchange for $5,000, so he could get a green card, court records state. He was arrested Dec. 17, when he arrived at a state police traffic stop in Portsmouth and a trooper "developed a suspicion that the three occupants of the vehicle were present in the United States without permission," according to the agent's affidavit.

When De Azevedo arrived at the stop, he is alleged to have admitted the three people were his employees and that "he only hires illegal aliens for his business," federal investigators allege. The three people in the vehicle were arrested and a detainer was lodged against De Azevedo, according to court records.

Then, authorities allege, while De Azevedo was held in the Strafford County House of Corrections, his phone calls were recorded. He is alleged to have been recorded while having conversations with a Portsmouth woman, who is not named in this story because she has not been charged with a crime. Federal records state she married De Azevedo's cousin so he could obtain legal immigration status and that she managed the cleaning business while De Azevedo was incarcerated.

The two were heard by investigators having phone conversations about company finances and their contact with investigators, according to the search warrant affidavit.

On Jan. 7, the woman is alleged to have told De Azevedo that she lied to federal investigators about how many people were working for them and that she hid business records at her grandparents' home. They talked again on Jan. 7 about problems with a $5,000-a-month cleaning contract with a Kittery, Maine, restaurant, according to the affidavit.

On Jan. 8, De Azevedo is alleged to have been recorded while speaking with the owner of a Portsmouth cafe and discussing the fact De Azevedo didn't have a Social Security number. During the same conversation, he said he "wishes there was a Brazilian mafia, as in that case all the law enforcement officials he deals with would be dead," Quinlan wrote.

On Jan. 10, during another recorded phone call from the jail, De Azevedo told the Portsmouth woman not to give investigators any tax information because it's not "straight up," Quinlan's affidavit states. She is alleged to have asked "if 'they' will find out 'we' lied about how many people" were working for them and De Azevedo reportedly told her there is no paperwork for them.

On Jan. 21, two associates were arrested in Kittery "for being present in the United States without permission" and De Azevedo was recorded having a phone conversation from the jail saying they were also his employees, court records state.